Book Report 3

I – Information about the Book Name of the book: Kane Chronicles 1 – The Red Pyramid Author of the book: Rick Riordan Summary of the book:

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

II – Personal Summarization
When Julius Kane tries to summon Osiris through the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, he also releases Set, the Egyptian god of chaos, who seals him in a coffin, as his children Sadie and Carter Kane watch. He also releases the other children of the Demon Days:Nephthys, Isis, Horus, and Osiris. The British police come to Carter and Sadie's grandparents' home, as Carter is with Sadie because of the twice-a-year visit, and question Carter and Sadie. Amos Kane, a fairly eccentric, peculiar character, who is the children's uncle and Julius's brother, brings them to the family mansion in Brooklyn.
That night, Carter's soul (known as a ba), travels to Phoenix, Arizona, where he sees Set, and learns that he will summon an extreme storm on his birthday. The next morning, Carter and Sadie describe what happened, and Amos tells them he will go search for Set for more information. He also tells them not to go to the library, but, disobeying him, they decide to go into the library anyway. While in the library, Set's warriors attack the house and Bast, the cat goddess, who is disguised as Sadie's cat, Muffin, saves them. She is later overcome by Serqet, the scorpion goddess. They soon meet Zia Rashid who helps distract Serqet while Sadie and Carter escape through a portal. Zia takes them to the House of Life, to be trained as magicians. Once the Chief Lector Iskandar, dies, and is replaced with Desjardins, the Kanes have to flee again, as the House of Life see them as a threat, as they host the gods Horus and Isis. They go to Paris to retrieve a book which tells them how to defeat Set. They find out that they need the Feather of Truth to help defeat Set so they then go to the underworld to retrieve the Feather of Truth from Anubis. On the way out they are attacked by Sobek the crocodile god but they escape when Bast sacrifices herself to save Carter and Sadie. Desjardins calls upon Sekhmet, the lion goddess, but Zia saves them with the help of their uncle. Then, Carter and Sadie go to the Red Pyramid in Phoenix. While Carter and Set battle each other, Sadie performs a spell that transports the pyramid to Washington, D.C. However, before she can seal the spell, Sadie spots Apophis, who was going to use the red pyramid to escape the Needle. Apophis has been close to doing this for quite a while, but with all the chaos that would be caused by the storm released by Set he will find an opening. After forcing Set to join their side to stop Apophis from escaping into the world, Zia is revealed to be a shabti. Carter and Sadie must show Desjardins that they are not a slave to the god they are hosting. To do this they both release the gods, but some of the gods' essences go into their amulets. Julius decides to stay in the Underworld as Osiris with their dead mother, Ruby Kane. Horus and Isis reward them by repairing the rest of Amos’s house and reviving Bast.
Carter and Sadie then use the djied amulet to recruit others to their cause. This amulet will attract those who have the blood of pharaohs.

III – What have you learned?
Courage is needed in our lives. We should have it fulfill the things that we do. Without courage we cannot fulfill anything because we are afraid on what the consequences are. We should be alert on our surroundings. Don’t let deceivers do their job on you.
Keeping problems on our own is not a good thing especially in teenagers. We can experience depression if we are not going to share our problems. Always think many times before taking choices. Always think positive after choosing so that we should not regret it. Hope is needed so that we should strive hard to reach our goals.

IV – 10 Difficult Words * stalling - delay with hesitation or evasion * pester - annoy somebody constantly * fiery - glowing hot * horrify - cause somebody to feel horror * sarcophagus - stone coffin * frail - physically weak * baffle - puzzle somebody * furrow - wrinkle on forehead * headrest - support for head * feat - notable act

Book Report 4

I – Information about the book Name of the book: Kane Chronicles 2 – The Throne of Fire Author of the book: Rick Riordan Summary of the book:

Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods haven't given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians.
And now their most threatening enemy yet - the chaos snake Apophis - is rising. If they don't prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it's a typical week for the Kane family.
To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished.
First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells.

II – Personal Summarization
Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods have not given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians. The other branches of the House of Life are hunting the Kanes down once they left the safety of their branch, the Brooklyn House.
And now their most threatening enemy yet (the chaos snake Apophis) is rising. If they do not prevent him from breaking free in a few days' time, the world will come to an end.
The story begins with Carter and Sadie breaking in to the Brooklyn Museum during a wedding to search for a part of the Book of Ra, which will allow them to wake up Ra to help them imprison or kill Apophis, the lord of chaos. Along with them are Khufu the baboon, and their new trainees, Jaz and Walt. Instead, they find a papyrus scroll that is booby trapped with a series of fire traps. As Carter and Walt distract the demons that are a part of the booby trap, Jaz perform a spell that banishes the demons back to the Duat, but Jaz ends up falling into a coma. Before she does, she manages to hand Sadie a wax statue to heal Carter.
Carter escapes from the museum with the griffin before the police arrive. When they arrive back in the mansion, Carter explains to the new trainees that they must find Ra, the sun god, before Apophis wakes in four days and swallows the sun as well as all of existence. They also find out that to do this, they must find the three scrolls that control the embodiments of Ra, one of them being the scroll that Sadie found in the museum. However, new enemies await, such as Vladimir Menshikov who serves Apophis and holds one of the key scrolls in freeing Ra.
Sadie returns to London to celebrate her 13th birthday, but when she arrived, her grandparents were forced to host Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, and Babi, the baboon god, to hunting down Sadie and her friends, Liz and Emma. They are rescued by the dwarf god Bes, who was able to use his extreme ugliness as a weapon. They met up with Carter and Walt along the way. When Bes opens a portal, he insists for Walt to get out for reasons Sadie and Carter does not know. They teleported to Russia, Menshikov's Nome. They got inside Menshikov's headquarters, and found out that he was summoning Set. They got the scroll but was attacked by Menshikov's two-headed snake (tjesu heru). Sadie manages to destroy the snake, but not before it bites Carter. Set tells them the location of the last scroll: The Valley of the Golden Mummies, and also the location of the real Zia. After Sadie heals Carter with the statue, Sadie calls on Walt to help her with the scroll, while Bes and Carter goes to find Zia.
Carter and Bes found some nomads that will take them to The Place of Red Sands, Zia's birthplace and where she was hidden. Nephthys, who was using Zia as a host, leaves Zia’s body, but Mehsikov and Desjarins arrive. Carter found the weapons of Ra, the crook and flail, and used it to defeat Menshikov, but Menshikov curses him, turning him into a snake aand Bes was trapped in a cage. Meanwhile, Sadie and Walt arrives at the Valley of the Golden Mummies, meeting a Roman ghost called Appius Claudius Iratus (Mad Claude), who wants them to get the mummies' spirit to the Afterlife, as the rites were not done properly. When they cannot, Mad Claude got really angry and called on the other mummies to kill them. Sadie manages to find the last scroll, but they got trapped by mummies. Ptah, a god, sends rats to help them and creates a portal to Carter and Bes. The portal destroys Bes' cage, and he scared them away. It turns out Walt is cursed and will die young, which was why Bes sent him away. Menshikov is preparing an army to attack Brooklyn House, so Walt and Zia goes back to protect it, while Sadie, Bes, and Carter goes into the Duat to free Ra and defeat Apophis.
There were 12 Houses, each representing an hour of the night. At the Gates of the Fourth House (Can only be entered before 10 O'clock), they find Khnum, the first part of Ra, who forgot what his secret name is. Using the Book of Ra, Sadie read out his secret name, returning his essence to the scroll. They enter the Fourth House, and it took them four hours to find Ra, who was really senile, with the help of Tawaret, who has a history with Bes. The Eighth House can only be entered at 2 O'clock. They travel to the Seventh House, where Osiris, a.k.a, their dad, and the ghost of their mom, awaits them. They invite Khonsu, the moon god, who can add more time into the night, but you have to gamble for it. If they lose a round, their identity (Ren) will be consumed. They will lose their memories. They have to win 3 rounds of senet. In the end, they won the first round, but lost the second, causing Bes' identity to be lost. They won the last two, and was given the extra time, they got into the Gates of the Eighth House and traveled toward the Twelfth House. Menshikov was there, possessed by Apophis. They got Ra to merge with his last aspect, Khepri the scarab god, but freed Apophis. It turns out Desjarins witnessed it, and helped them banish Apophis, but got burned up using too much magic. He warned that Apophis will return in time.
They got back to Brooklyn House, found out that because of the power of Ra, they were able to hold the enemies and win the fight. But the gods were not happy with them, especially Horus and Isis, since bringing back Ra made Horus lose his throne. Walt is dying in a year unless they can find a cure, which was lost, since Menshikov was the last person to know it. Bes was sitting in the Fourth House, not having any memories, not knowing who and where he is. Apophis will return, and Ra is in no shape to fight him. The House of Life is still trying to crush them, as they think that Desjarins died by the hands of the Kanes, and Amos is the new Chief Lector.

III – What have you learned?
Teamwork is one of the aspects of success and without it nothing will succeed. In everything that we do, we should persevere for it. We should set our minds that we can finish our tasks. Don’t act before thinking because mistakes could happen that will affect your life. Think what the people around you would feel if you do these things.
We should face the consequences on the things that we have done. Have courage to fight for what is right. Put faith on the good deeds that you will do to obtain a good fruit from it. Sometimes we should make sacrifices for the greater good. Always bear in your mind that in every obstacle that your life faces, there is always a brighter tomorrow for it.

IV – 10 Difficult Words * transcript - written record * heist – theft * prattle - idle or childish talk * rogue - somebody dishonest * writhing - twist or squirm * scimitar - Arab or Turkish saber * emaciated - very thin * capsize - overturn in water * bestial – inhuman * morsel – small amount

Book Report 5

I – Information about the book Name of the book: The Bartimaeus Trilogy 1 – Amulet of Samarkand Author of the book: Jonathan Stroud Summary of the book:

Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hotshot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace whose boss. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt.

II – Personal Summarization
Nathaniel becomes an apprentice Magician after his parents forfeit him (as a very young child) to the magicians' adoption service in return for some money. His master, Arthur Underwood, is a mediocre magician and the assistant minister of Internal Affairs. Underwood is unwilling to having an apprentice whilst his wife, Martha, warmly welcomes Nathaniel.
Throughout his youth, noteworthy events embitter Nathaniel towards Underwood. One year before the events of the novel Underwood hosts a gathering of magicians in his villa. Upon his presentation to the other magicians, Nathaniel (age 10 at the time) is interviewed by his later antagonist Simon Lovelace who dismisses Nathaniel's obvious powers for magic. Nathaniel retorts impolitely and incurs Lovelace's wrath, in the form of an invisible demon which holds him immobile, allowing Lovelace to deride his helpless condition. Once he is released, Nathaniel sets a fleet of mites upon Lovelace, which he easily destroys, and is punished with a beating from one of Lovelace's imps. Ms. Lutyens, his admired art teacher, attempts to waylay the punishment and gets fired.
Following his experience, Nathaniel vows to become his own master and learns from the books in Underwood's study while also plotting the downfall and humiliation of his nemesis Lovelace. Using a rudimentary scrying glass Nathaniel spies on Lovelace. One night he witnesses him paying a bearded mercenary after receiving a suspicious package. The imp in the glass quotes the mercenary as saying that the package is the Amulet of Samarkand. Days after his twelfth birthday, Nathaniel summons the djinni Bartimaeus, a cocky spirit with a grudge against his slavers --- the magicians. Bartimaeus, expecting a ridiculous and simple charge, such as levitating an object, is instead charged with the highly dangerous, unexpected command to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from Simon Lovelace. While fulfilling his charge Bartimaeus runs into Faquarl and Jabor, two djinni under Lovelace's employ, the former of whom harbors a mutual grudge with Bartimaeus spanning thousands of years, the latter being a particularly dangerous and vicious djinni. After escaping Faquarl and Jabor, Bartimaeus is also accosted in an alleyway by a mysterious gang of youths, who attempted to steal the Amulet from him, somehow spotting it under Bartimaeus's clothes. The youths are later revealed to be the Resistance.
Bartimaeus is summoned back to Nathaniel who orders him to hide the amulet in Underwood's study for safekeeping. Charged to return to Nathaniel after completing that task, Bartimaeus is with him when Mrs. Underwood calls the boy by his birth name "Nathaniel", thus awarding the djinni with ammunition against the young magician. The use of the birth name acts as a defense mechanism against corporal punishment. Nathaniel counteracts this with a Perpetual Confinement spell on a sealed tin of rosemary (agonising to spirits) which guarantees Bartimaeus' servitude for one month and the safety of Nathaniel. Later, Nathaniel is officially named as John Mandrake. That night John/Nathaniel accompanies the Underwoods to parliament in for the state address. Nathaniel witnesses a wild looking youth release an elemental sphere into the throng of magicians at the address which results in a large explosion of trapped elements; an attack of the Resistance.
Bartimaeus was further ordered to spy on Simon Lovelace and to discover all he can about his acquaintances and the Amulet of Samarkand. He disguises himself as a messenger imp, after accosting Lovelace's genuine messenger, and travels to Pinn's Accoutrements to learn of the amulet.
Simpkin, Sholto Pinn's foliot assistant, reveals that the amulet had been under government protection before it had been stolen. Then Bartimaeus' cover is blown by Pinn, he botches his escape and is detained in the Tower of London, preventing Nathaniel from summoning him. After Nathaniel fails to clean up his room after his attempted summoning, Underwood discovers Nathaniel's covert operation and confiscates his summoning paraphernalia and notes detailing his plot against Lovelace. However, before he can examine these notes Underwood is called to the Tower of London so he may interrogate Bartimaeus (unbeknownst to Nathaniel). When he returns later, Nathaniel spies on him using the scrying glass but is caught by his master. Before his master can punish him Lovelace presents himself at the door and demands Underwood's attention.
Previously Bartimaeus had awoken in the Tower to be unsuccessfully interrogated by Sholto Pinn and Jessica Whitwell, the Minister of Security. Jabor and Faquarl assist Bartimaeus in escaping the Tower on condition that he reveal the location of the Amulet and his master. In order to protect his master, and thus avoid perpetual confinement, Bartimaeus refuses and escapes by igniting the car petrol that Faquarl had been covered in during the escape. Bartimaeus then unwittingly leads Lovelace's servants to the Underwood house. Lovelace threatens Underwood with violence when Underwood expresses ignorance to the alleged theft of an artifact. After quailing under Lovelace's magical intimidations, Underwood leads Lovelace to his study where the amulet is discovered. Nathaniel then reveals himself as the thief in an act Bartimaeus deems suicidal. Underwood then betrays Nathaniel by encouraging Lovelace to kill the boy but let him live. In spite of this, Lovelace summons Jabor to destroy the house, Underwood, Mrs. Underwood and Nathaniel; but Nathaniel survives, thanks to Bartimaeus.
Instead of fleeing the country after escaping the fire, Nathaniel promises to seek revenge for his beloved Mrs. Underwood's death and forces Bartimaeus to help by reminding him of the rosemary tin should he betray him. An angered Bartimaeus threatens to kill him because he believes that either way he will end up in the tin and encourages Nathaniel to free him then and now, but resolves to try and keep him alive after Nathaniel promises to free him after this final task. Nathaniel meets by chance some members of the Resistance, yet fails to infiltrate the group and furthermore has his scrying glass stolen. After this fiasco, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus travel to Heddlehem Hall in order to stop Lovelace's plot against the government. The pair arrive disguised as a delicatessen manager and his son and Nathaniel slips past Faquarl, who is present in the kitchen at the hall. Bartimaeus attempts to kill the mysterious bearded mercenary, who has become alerted to Nathaniel's plot by the delicatessen people whose van was stolen as a disguise.
The mercenary displays an extraordinary resistance to magic and a pair of seven league boots, which grant him exceptional speed. Meanwhile, Nathaniel is discovered by Lovelace and his master Schyler. After Lovelace leaves the room to set his plans in motion, Schyler offered Nathaniel an ultimatum: to join Lovelace in his new order or die. Nathaniel manages to kill Schyler using petty magical firework-cubes and he and Bartimaeus arrive in time for the conference.
The room in which the Parliament commune is promptly sealed shut both physically and magically. Nathaniel attempts to warn the seated magicians of the coup, but is unknowingly foiled by Jessica Whitwell, who places him in an impenetrable bubble. The extravagant Persian rug displayed under a floor of glass is pulled away mechanically to reveal an enormous pentacle. Lovelace then blows an ancient summoning horn and calls forth the immensely strong spirit Ramuthra through a rift, who proceeds to warp reality on the seven planes and destroy the surrounding magicians and djinni. Jabor is summoned to destroy Bartimaeus but is tricked into flying toward the summoning rift and is trapped in its attractive field. After this, Bartimaeus, disguised as Lovelace's girlfriend Amanda, distracts Lovelace and allows Nathaniel to steal the amulet. Ramuthra obliterates Lovelace. Nathaniel surprises Bartimaeus by knowing the required method of dismissal. In this climactic moment, the culmination of Nathaniel's disastrous experiences and thirst for knowledge are appeased when he speaks the words of dismissal and cracks the summoning horn. After Ramuthra and the rift disappear, Nathaniel dramatically limps over to the half buried form of the prime minister Rupert Devereaux and lays the Amulet in his hands. After recounting a modified version of events which belittles Bartimaeus' achievement, advocates the role of Mrs. Underwood and neglects the less admirable experiences, Nathaniel becomes the quiet hero of the government. The outside world remains ignorant of his heroic acts, yet Nathaniel is satisfied with a true magician's lifestyle under a new master, Jessica Whitwell.
Finally, Nathaniel dismisses Bartimaeus with a mutual agreement that he will never summon Bartimaeus again and that Bartimaeus never reveal Nathaniel's birth name to other spirits and other magicians. Before he is dismissed, Bartimaeus attempts to warn Nathaniel against the typical road of a magician involving power-seeking behavior, materialism, and a generally shallow existence, also adding that Nathaniel should beware of his new master. Bartimaeus tells Nathaniel that he has something other magicians lack, something that he should guard, a conscience. In spite of feelings that this attempt is in vain, his last thoughts before dismissal are those of hope for his young master.

III – What have you learned?
Sometimes our enemies can be our ally. They will help us succeed because you have the same goal. In this book Bartimaeus was an enemy of Nathaniel because he is a demon. But he still helped Nathaniel to reach his goal. White lies are not harmless but they can still hurt a person’s feeling because they are still lies.
Being obedient is learning what you will do if it is for good or bad. Sometimes we should not obey the persons who give bad tasks to us. Everything in this world has a purpose. Even though it is small it can always make a difference in our lives. Always show love to the persons around you.

IV – 10 Difficult Words * bluster - speak or say loudly or arrogantly * scurry - move briskly * cloying - weary with excess * scruffy - untidy or shabby * obscure - hard to understand * provenance – origin * quaint - pleasantly strange * ramshackle - badly built or rundown * garish – gaudy * gentry - upper classes

PROJECT
IN
ENGLISH

Submitted by:
Tristan Parrucho Caga
4th yr. – John
Submitted to:
Ms. Jonemie Lofranco
4th yr. – English Teacher